Possible to have new grip / reel seat installed on rod?

[Mcjenson]

Couple years ago had a guy build me a custom swimbait rod off of a rainshadow blank. Unfortunately I specced out the wrong size handle, and its way too short for comfortably throwing out big glide / swimbaits. Is it possible for my rod builder to regrip? Assuming the reel seat will have to be moved and probably will need a new one. Thanks

[harrys]

If I was the builder I would say yes it can be done.....BUT.....to do it right I would have to strip off all the guides, handle and grips the only thing that could stay on is the butt grip. start the build all over again. You could of course reuse all the guides but I would say you would need new handles and seat.

[Spoonplugger1]

Have your builder extend the butt, easy to do. Some ways are easier than others, we have no idea what grip material is on the rod, or how much longer it needs to be.

[Mcjenson]

Have your builder extend the butt, easy to do. Some ways are easier than others, we have no idea what grip material is on the rod, or how much longer it needs to be.

Currently it has a Winn Grips 8.5” long swell grip. It is just too short, should've done my research better when ordering and my rod builder mostly does trout / salmon so he didn't really know either. I prefer cork grips now too, probably would like to get a 14' cork full grip handle on there instead.

[willwork4fish]

Yeah, with a full cork grip that's an easy extension and fix. You won't even know it's been extended. The whole rod will be another 5.5" longer though but that's usually not a bad thing when you're talking about a big bait rod.

[Mcjenson]

Yeah, with a full cork grip that's an easy extension and fix. You won't even know it's been extended. The whole rod will be another 5.5" longer though but that's usually not a bad thing when you're talking about a big bait rod.

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I'll have to have a chat with my rod builder. Shame to tear up his good work, but the rod is somewhat unusable with the short handle.

[Spoonplugger1]

You would think a salmon/steelhead rod builder would have not thought an 8.5" grip would have worked well, after all the original swimbait rods came from commercial models of these rods. I sure would have had more than one red flag up on that, who would put a short grip on a 7 1/2 - 8 ft rod heavy action rod? Fastest, easiest grip would be one from graphite tube in one of its many forms and colors, you could turn down the Winn grips for arbors and slip the tube over them. A 16 inch rear grip is not unheard of on swimbait rods.

[willwork4fish]

who would put a short grip on a 7 1/2 - 8 ft rod heavy action rod?

Forhan would, he built a lot of Revolver flip sticks on a Shikari FS764 with an 8 1/2" grip (from the back of the seat to the butt) that's what he actually preferred at least way back when...but totally agree that a handle that short on a SB rod is almost unusable.

[Mcjenson]

You would think a salmon/steelhead rod builder would have not thought an 8.5" grip would have worked well, after all the original swimbait rods came from commercial models of these rods. I sure would have had more than one red flag up on that, who would put a short grip on a 7 1/2 - 8 ft rod heavy action rod? Fastest, easiest grip would be one from graphite tube in one of its many forms and colors, you could turn down the Winn grips for arbors and slip the tube over them. A 16 inch rear grip is not unheard of on swimbait rods.

I gave him the exact parts I wanted, so he really has no blame. I should’ve done more research, I prefer shorter grips for most applications and hadn’t really thrown big swim baits around.